With the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Budget sessions commencing on Monday, attention is focused on Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and whether he can find a balance between welfare initiatives and developmental projects in the forthcoming Budget.
Recently, Naidu highlighted a report from NITI Aayog regarding the State’s finances covering the span from 2018-19 to 2022-23. He pointed out that the financial challenges inherited by the NDA government, due to what he termed the previous mismanagement by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), has led to speculation that the NDA might postpone fulfilling some commitments outlined in the ‘Super Six’ proposals.
The State’s financial situation is under considerable strain, with the major challenge being to secure sufficient funding for critical projects like the new capital in Amaravati and the Polavaram multipurpose irrigation initiative, all while continuing to support welfare programs.
Although the government has successfully obtained a loan of ₹15,000 crore for Amaravati from international financial institutions, there is still a pressing need to seek additional avenues for boosting revenue as construction tenders worth over ₹42,000 crore have already been issued.
Approximately eight months after assuming office, the government has yet to roll out several promised populist welfare initiatives from its ‘Super Six’ package. These include free public transportation for women on State-run RTC buses, a payment of ₹20,000 to each farmer under the ‘Annadata Sukhibhava’ initiative, ₹15,000 support for women through the ‘Thalliki Vandanam’ scheme (for sending children to school), and a monthly unemployment allowance of ₹3,000 for the jobless youth.
The recent flooding, which inflicted substantial damage on crops, property, and infrastructure, has further exacerbated the State’s financial woes. Additionally, according to the Budget for 2025-26, Andhra Pradesh is projected to receive approximately ₹38,000 crore from the central government as its share in centrally sponsored projects. The State will need to allocate its portion for implementing these central schemes, estimated to be around ₹25,000 crore depending on the specific programs involved.
Insider sources suggest that the upcoming Budget is expected to estimate total expenditure between ₹3.15 lakh crore and ₹3.25 lakh crore. In the first Budget presented in November of the previous year, Finance Minister Payyavula Kesav estimated the outlay for 2024-25 to be ₹2.94 lakh crore.
